The Continuous Complaints to the Theaters

If you ask people about their hobbies or what the like to do in their free time, most reply they enjoy watching movies or even listening to music. When it comes to watching movies, dissatisfaction of this past time has recently been on the rise. The main problems cited have been with movie theaters themselves. People are bothered by the excessive pre-movie advertisements, the limited selection of titles and the cost of admission.

The first complaint about theaters is the long period of pre-viewing advertisements. Moviegoers will see an average number of 20 ads before the featured movie and it lasts about 10 minutes. Recently, a judicial apprentice filed a suit against the practice of showing long advertisements before a featured film. They argued in favor of the right to choose whether or not to watch ads by indicating the start and end time of the advertisements. However there were regulations against it.

Another problem is the limited selection and small number of movies available. In the case of the film ‘A Violent Prosecutor’, the time table at CGV was filled with this movie. Because of the short gap between show times, people complained it felt like a subway schedule. Movie distributors monopolizing theater timetables are parts of large conglomerates which have theater chains. So they support the movies their company’s produced by pushing them in their own theaters resulting in fewer choices for moviegoers.

Finally, pricing is a problem. Starting from March 3, CGV theaters, one of the top 3 movie theaters in the nation reported they will diversify their prices according to show times and the location of seats. They divided viewing times into 4 to 6 parts: Brunch, Daylight, Prime, Moonlight, and Night and they divided seats in 3 parts Economy, Standard and Prime. Economy zone seats are 1,000 won cheaper than Standard, while Prime zone seats are 1,000 won higher.

Many people suggest that the new pricing scheme is an excuse to increase admission costs, however in the case of musicals, concerts and airplanes, price are already diversified according to time of flights and location of seats. The more expensive the seats are, the wider and more comfortable they are as well as conveniently located and worthy of service. However, the diversification of price in movie theaters has no merits and there are no improvements on existing complaints. People also worry about the ‘grasshopper tribe’ which are those who move to the more expensive seats after the movie starts. The CGV has no measure to stop this phenomenon and argue instead, “We leave it up to their conscience.”

Without any measures and precautions preventing the grasshopper tribe, the CGV is arguable behaving irresponsibly. Before simply thinking about earning money by increasing prices, dissatisfaction from the audience should certainly take precedence over all other business changes. For a more satisfactory viewing experience, and to further develop the movie industry, it is necessary to reduce the number of pre-viewing ads, and show a more diverse selection of movies. Also, the diversification of prices should be reconsidered.

It is not only a problem in the movie industry. Every industry should not bend towards only making profits. They should give priority to solving existing problems and improving customer service. After providing good value for their products and service, the industry and the companies can develop and achieved greater success in their field.